Building element



July 22 1924.

H. M. PRICE BUILDING ELEMENT Filed May 10. 1923 hil 3m" "up Patented July 22, 1924.

um-TED P n-TLENT OFFICE.

32min PRICE, or WA's'HiNe'ToNfnfs'T'RIcT 'oF conomzm.

- npplieeoii me' mi l o, 192's. rie1 in. 338,032.

To all whom it may emcem:

Be it known; 't-hatI-MHMY- MAPinon, a citizen ofthe United 1 States, residinget Washington, District "of 'Colni'n biay lias '-in vented an Improvement in Building-Elements,-of which -t he"'following deseiiption, in eonneetion with the :aecom'panying 'tl i twin-gs,is a; specification, like clierectefls en the drawings repres'er'itinglikeperts.

-' My invention i elefieeto builditig eenstructiofi and-aims to prbviddbtiildinli elements ments y e joined together, ag latxithi'li three fia tstvaight ed egbut eleng theifoei th of-the building-element: and form one edge thereof.

- Obviousl nocher dimensions and positions of the bead a'repossi ble'and may be desirable for-eert'aiin constructions, and therefore I do not Iimit-theinvention teeny particular size-orleeetion 0f the bead.

euAt," eaehside ofthe head 11 beveled -surtweesofishoulders 1-2-niay advantageously be provided; eeid' shoulders being preferably plame;=and -extending at an angle of substantially 45"tothe lazne of the side face of theblook- The to ction of the'two'sh-oulders-12-wil1 be apparent as hereinafter 'explai-ned. -Fofsome er uses, a single s'houltier wi1-1--sufiiee; as Willi also be made clear. Whertweshoulders: are- ;)rovided, =they may extend slibstantially at right angles to each other; esmXemplified --in the preferred embodiment of "the invention, so as not to extendinvwairdll =to such an extenves to weaken the edge 0f e bloek.

fi bui lding element having a. parti eylindricsaP-bead 'and two adjacent shoulders as shown "-in the drawingis not only' easy and hiexp'ensive to make bufi maya lso be handled roughly Withouif -liabi-lity of-chipping or ei aeking along its beaded edge; due to the i esisten't ohaleaete'r and -strength of its" cylindlfieal shape.

:Ihe well oorner--eonstruetion illustrated which h sve beads 11- along oneend or edge, the other edges preferably being unbea'ded,

and helf bloeke13 substantially square likewise i evided With' beads 11 along oneeoge. IS-he axis ll ofthe bloks lOa'nd 13 are disposedin vertioalel-ineinent and preferebly -the bloeks carrying them are arranged alternaitionmn each side of the eorner, thus-" enheneing the appearance of the wall endetthe sanietimeincree'sing the strength of-the corner. -Goopeneting; with" the blocks '10 ereoemplemenfiary blocks 14 each "having e 'ohannelyrecess or groove-15 along one edge, said groeve in eaich' block being preferably, though not neeessar'il erouate. The g'fiooved edges of blocks 14 "are designed to be juxtaposed to the partboylindrieal beads 11,and the depth of the'grooves 15 ismede suflieient to'leave a space for the introd'ue tion' of eement 0i the/dike in t he joint between juxtaiposed bloekslO and-"14. In other wordswwhen amiiete grooves are employed, the rad'rus' of the are of "the groovesis dif' ferent from the radius of the parti-cylin drical head 11, and in the preferred embodiment, the radius of the groove is the lesser.

l/Vhile arcuate grooves are advantageous in that they are easily formed, and do not reduce materially the strength of the blocks, many other types of grooves or channels may be desirable under special circumstances, and my invention contemplates the use of other shapes and modifications thereof having analogous or equivalent functions. The angular width of the groove 15 on each block 14 is advantageously about 90, such that it spans about onethird of the bead, when the blocks 10 and 14 are placed together as in Fig. 1. The illustrative block 14 has beveled surfaces or shoulders 16 on each side of the groove 15 and extending from each face of the block inwardly approximately at a 45 angle thereto, said shoulders being complemental to shoulders 12 of the blocks 10 and of the same width.

In a right-angled corner of a wall composed of blocks having the beads 11 and grooves 15, the shoulder 16 of a roove block will be abutted against shoul er 12 of a bead block, and cement placed in the bottom of the groove 15 in the space between it and the bead to bind the two blocks together, making a very neat and close joint. When the shoulders 12 and 16 lie exactly at 45 relative to the faces of the corresponding blocks, said blocks will extend exactly at right angles to each other, and no particular skill on the part of the workman. will be required to effect this result.

It is obvious that a single bevel shoulder on block 14 may be provided when block 10 likewise has a single shoulder; and by reversing the relative positions of the blocks corners extending in any desired direction may be constructed with no exposed shoulders.

Referring now to Fig. 2, there are shown in section two of the improved building elements 10 and 14 disposed at right angles as is customary in building corners of walls. The dotted lines illustrate how two other elements or courses of elements 14 may be brought together at the same corner, forming a. four way intersection, if desired. This arrangement is useful in erectin partitions in buildings. Instead of two intersecting walls, as shown, a single wall may be built having a partition branching oil at any desired angle on one side only. The invention is also well adapted for use in building walls having obtuse angles of any degree.

Another of the advantageous features of my improved building element construction is that curved walls may be made (see Fig. 3) without any cuttin or modification of the shape of the blocks y the workman. In building curved walls from ordinary brick or masonry blocks, it is frequently necessary to chip off the inner edges of the bricks or blocks and in many cases the joints between the blocks are unduly widened so that the mortar or cement becomes too noticeable. Although curved face bricks are manufactured, they can only be used for walls of a particular curvature. My invention provides building elements of almost universal applicability.

Referring to Fig. 3, there is shown in section a masonry wall of a curvature approximating an arc of a circle wherein blocks 17 are employed each of which has a bead 18 at one end and a groove 19 at the other end. Completely circular walls of any desired radius are readily built by means of beaded blocks 17; also walls of a great variety of contours. For example, it may be desirable to extend a wall or partition at a sharp angle to the curved wall illustrated in Fig. 3, as in building bay windows or the like.

The joint between two juxtaposed bead and groove blocks is particularly strong because the straight edges formed'at the intersection of the shoulders 16 with groove 15 are brought adjacent the surface of the bead 11 and contact with said bead throughout their length, so that when the two blocks are cemented together the resistance to transverse stresses will be very large and much greater than in the case of ordinary rectangular blocks.

My invention provides, in effect, an economical interlocking joint for building elements which is easily and cheaply made and does not prevent the employment of the building elements for all kinds of ordinary construction work.

My invention obviously is not restricted to the particular embodiment thereof herein illustrated and described. I

1. In a bonded building construction, the combination of a pair of complementary building elements of diiierent sizes to present a break joint wall, said elements having interengaging and cooperating bead and groove construction whereby they may be united together by cementitious material in any angular position relative to said wall which is comprehended within an arc of substantially 180.

2. In a bonded building construction, the combination of a pair of complementary building elements, said elements having cooperating bead and groove construction, the bead portion being of arcuate shape and comprising an arc of not less than 225 whereby the elements may be fitted together in right angular relation to each other.

3. In building construction, a building element having a bead comprising an arc of substantially 270, in combination with a building element having an arcuate oove complementary to the arc of the bea each element having a 45 bevel surface extending from one face inwards toward the bead or the groove as the case may be whereby the two elements may be set with the groove of one element adjacent the head of the other element and the two bevel surfaces in juxtaposition.

4. In building construction, a building element having an arcuate bead comprising an arc of not less than 225, in combination with a complementary building element having an arouate groove, the arc of said groove approximately 90 and the radius of the arc of the groove being less than the radius of the arc of the bead, whereby when the bead and groove of two complementary elements are juxtaposed a space is left between the crown of the bead and the bottom of the groove for cementitious material.

5. In building construction, a building element having a bead along one edge comprising an arc of not less than 225, in combination with a building element having an arcuate groove along one edge and complementary to the arc of the bead but of smaller radius, each element havin a 45 bevel surface extending from one ace inwards toward the bead or the groove as the case may be, whereby the two elements may be set at right angles to each other with the groove of one element adjacent the bead of the other element and the two bevel surfaces in juxtaposition, the difference between the radii. of the arcs of the bead and of the groove leaving a space for cementitious material between the abutted edges of the two elements.

In testimony whereof, I have signed by name to this specification.

HENRY M. PRICE. 

